WAR/DRAFT/VETERAN AFFAIRS

Air-to-ground or air-to-air missiles have one thing in common — they have a seeker head, or targeting system on the missile that uses radar or heat-seeking technology to find and lead the weapon to the target to destroy it. The Russian defense industry says it will deploy powerful lasers on its new sixth-generation fighter that will be able to “burn” enemy homing systems on projectiles fired in their direction, to make them unable to hit a target.

President Donald Trump spoke briefly to the White House press pool Monday prior to his first full Cabinet meeting with retired Gen. John Kelly installed as Chief of Staff.

And in his remarks, he — ever so casually — tossed some shade in the direction of his Oval Office predecessors.

“We have some interesting situations that we’ll handle,” Trump said. “North Korea, Middle East, lots of problems that we inherited from previous administrations but we’ll take care of them. We’ll take care of them very well.”

President Xi Jinping - wearing his military fatigues - inspected his troops personally just hours after the latest North Korea crisis.

The Americans were warned by Beijing after stepping up the deployment of its THAAD missile defence system in South Korea.

The move was in response to Kim Jong-un's latest ballistic missile test on Friday night.

But a stern China warned Washington: "The Chinese side is deeply concerned about the situation."

Webmaster's Commentary:

I would like to hope that President Trump got the message from this Chinese demonstration of force; that any attack against North Korea will be double plus ungood for the Unhinged Surveilled States of Amerika.

It feels to me as though a US war against North Korea (and very probably, by extension, China) is imminent.

And living on a "first strike target" (all US military communications run through a facility here on Oahu, which Chinese missiles can hit), color Mike and me just a little nervous about such a prospect!!

A top Russian diplomat has warned that expulsion of US diplomats and seizure of US diplomatic properties would not suffice as a response to a recent barrage of sanctions imposed by Washington on Moscow, warning that more retaliatory moves would come if the US decides to go further.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Sunday that Moscow was carefully pondering what could come next in response to the Thursday's passage of controversial sanctions in the US Senate.

“If the US side decides to move further towards... deterioration, we will answer. We will respond in kind. We will ... retaliate,” Ryabkov said, calling the Congress bill “weird and unacceptable,” and saying it was “the last straw.”

During a visit to Estonia, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence confirms that President Trump will sign a bill on new sanctions on Russia passed by Congress and warns North Korea that “all options are on the table”.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley brushed off reports that the U.S. is seeking an emergency Security Council session over North Korea, saying in a Sunday statement, “The time for talk is over.”

North Korea’s launch of a second intercontinental ballistic missile Friday—a missile some believe has the potential to reach U.S. cities—led to speculation that the U.S. would go to the U.N. to seek an emergency session and a resolution to put more pressure on the rogue state. CBS News reported Saturday that the U.S. was seeking an emergency session on Monday, but Haley shot down such reporting as “mistaken.”

“There is no point in having an emergency session if it produces nothing of consequence,” Haley said, before noting that North Korea is already the target of a number of Security Council resolutions which, she said, “they violate with impunity.”

While his health and even sanity have been in doubt for years, fresh rumors are spreading that King Salman of Saudi Arabia’s physical condition has further deteriorated. According to Saudi sources cited by Oil Price, Salman’s health will likely forced him to abdicate the throne in the next few months. Though it was long believed that Mohammed bin Nayef, the king’s nephew and the country’s Minister of the Interior, would assume the throne, bin Nayef’s sudden ouster as Saudi Crown Prince during Ramadan definitively changed that, with King Salman’s son and the current Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, now positioned to take control.

George Soros, an immigrant from Hungary, is using his vast wealth and influence to foment riots and strife in the United States. He has a long history of meddling in the internal affairs of foreign countries and is using the same tactics to destabilize the United States, where he was given citizenship in 1961. We call on the Trump Administration and State Department to revoke his citizenship, cancel his passport and shut down his organizations.

It’s beginning to look a lot like the 1990s again when Bill Clinton’s famous liberalism and fears of government take-overs followed by gun bans inspired the creation of right-leaning militia organizations willing to stand and fight against imagined tyranny.

Only, this time around it’s the far Left that is doing the preparing.

A web-based group that keeps an eye on Left-wing militancy is reporting that one movement claiming at least 30 branches nationwide are preparing members to wage civil war against conservatives and Trump supporters.They promote several PDFs that endorse “armed struggle” and even offer a 36 page “Mini-Manual Of The Urban Guerrilla” which pictures left-wing militants using RPGs and outlines tactics for guerrilla warfare including sections on “sabotage,” “kidnapping,” “executions,” “armed propaganda,” and “terrorism.”

This all sounds like typical Leninist/Marxist ‘revolutionary’ claptrap. But these fools believe it.

A day after North Korea tested a ballistic missile that it claims can reach all of the United States, US President Donald Trump ripped China for not reining in Kim Jong Un and his missile program.

"I am very disappointed in China," Trump wrote in a pair of Twitter posts. "...they do NOTHING for us with North Korea, just talk. We will no longer allow this to continue. China could easily solve this problem!"

North Korea's test Friday of an intercontinental ballistic missile was its second of the long-range weapon in a month. The first on July 4 showed the missile had the range to reach Alaska.

Webmaster's Commentary:

President Trump, a word, please: what you ABSOLUTELY DO NOT WANT TO SEE HAPPEN, is a war between the US, North Korea, and China, assisting North Korea against the US.

This country absolutely does not have the weaponry; the money; the manufacturing; or the troop strength to insure a positive outcome to a conventional war against China.

What really needs to happen here, is a peace conference, to be attended by South and North Korea, China, Japan, and the US, which creates a peace treaty to supplant the existing armistice, with North Korea guaranteeing that they will stop its nuclear weapons program in exchange for unrestricted, unsanctioned trade.

Of course, that... would be logical.

Mr. President, in such a deal, everyone wins, and there is no chance of war with China.

To spend even more than the staggering amounts already given to the military, U.S. lawmakers have used the foreign war budget as a "slush fund" to circumvent Pentagon budget caps imposed by law, says William Hartung"

On Sunday Venezuela will hold an general election of participants of a constitutional assembly. Half of the representatives will be elected from regular electoral districts. The other half will be elected from and by eight special constituencies like "workers", "farmers", "employers", etc. The second part may be unusual but is no less democratic than the U.S. system which gives voters in rural states more weight than city dwellers.

The Royal Navy will deploy a warship to the South China Sea next year for a so-called freedom of navigation mission – a challenge to Beijing’s claim of sovereignty over the area – UK Defence Minister Michael Fallon said.

“We hope to send a warship to [the] region next year. We have not finalized exactly where that deployment will take place, but we won’t be constrained by China from sailing through the South China Sea,“ Fallon told Reuters during a trip to Australia.

In a joint statement released Wednesday, the United Nations’ top relief agencies urged the international community to help provide humanitarian aid to Yemen, where a major cholera outbreak has been spreading rapidly since April.

As UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Food Program (WFP) reported following a trip to the war-ravaged country, nearly 1,900 people have died in the past three months, and 400,000 cases of suspected cholera have been recorded.

Two enemies of America are poised for upcoming rocket launches, two senior U.S. officials told Fox News, with another North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile launch expected as soon as Wednesday night and Iran on the verge of sending its own vehicle into space.

Iran's Simorgh space-launch vehicle is believed to be carrying a satellite, marking the second time in more than a year that Tehran has attempted to put an operational satellite into orbit -- something the Islamic Republic has never done successfully, according to one of the officials who has not authorized to discuss a confidential assessment.

Iran's last space launch in April 2016 failed to place a satellite into orbit, the official said.

Webmaster's Commentary:

Note the conspiratorial tone of the article, as though there is a "linkage" between North Korea and Iran, because "North Korea and Iran have long been accused of sharing missile technology", an accusation which cannot be proven at this point.

Iran absolutely should NOT be looked at as an enemy; this is only happening because Israel sees it as an "existential threat" whose current government must, ultimately, be wiped off the face of the earth (using only American blood and American money, of course!).

Were it not for this poisonous sentiment, taken from a completely overblown, and thoroughly disingenuous representation of Iran's regional "threat" by Israel's government to that of the government of the US, Iran would be a natural trading partner for the US.

The IAEA has stated that Iran is in absolute, full compliance of the P5+1 accord.

The sanctions placed against Iran are stupid, counterproductive, and punitive; punishing Iran for doing something (like developing defensive missiles, which was NEVER a part of the P5+1 agreement) is not a way to get the country back to the negotiating table on other issues.

The sanctions placed against North Korea are about the same, and will only hasten that country's development of a guided, steerable nuclear device, which can get to where it is aiming.

Sometimes, I look at what the Federal government is doing and it (very painfully) reminds me; just because something is the most ham-fistedly, pig-headedly stupid thing the US government could be doing, is utterly no guarantee that it will not do it!!

This Marine is insubordinate. It isn't up to Dunford or Mattis. They have been given the Order by the President and refuses to carry it out.

(WASHINGTON) — The nation's top military officer says U.S. policy on transgender individuals serving in uniform has not — and will not — change until Defense Secretary Jim Mattis receives the president's policy direction and Mattis determines how to implement it.

Gen. Joseph Dunford is chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Dunford made the statement in a note Thursday to all service chiefs, commanders and enlisted military leaders.

Over the longer term, however, Pompeo singled out China as the most serious security challenge.

While China, Russia, and Iran all are expected to pose significant problems in the future, China is a greater threat because of its robust economy and growing military power—both aimed against the United States.

"I think China has the capacity to present the greatest rivalry to America of any of those over the medium and long term," he said.

China's military is building up forces that are aimed at countering U.S. power projection around the world, he said.

"So you see that, whether it's going on in the South China or East China Sea, or the work they're doing in other parts of the world," Pompeo said.

In acquiring foreign technology, he noted: "If you look at them, they are probably trying either to steal our stuff, or make sure they can defeat it. And most often, both."

Webmaster's Commentary:

China's burgeoning economy, and its ability to make things people want to actually buy, is definitely a problem for the US government; please remember that the iphone...is made in China.

China's weaponry is on point to match, or exceed the capabilities of US-made weaponry, because the culture of the military/industrial complex in this country has become decadent, to the point where CEOS of the companies making our weapons, planes, and ships, believe it is perfectly acceptable to deliver products so late as to be obsolete by the time they are field-tested; to deliver products which absolutely cannot perform as advertised (think: Lockheed Martin's F-35), and have cost overruns which make the budgets for these items wildly out of control.

IF we are going to have a tiny chance to defeat the Chinese in military combat, which may well be coming, to attempt to destroy the yuan, this has to change.

As those of you who read this blog understand, I detest war as a method of resolving geopolitical conflicts; that being said, when our military is tasked with being at war, they deserve the best the military/industrial complex can provide.

We are all deeply nostalgic for the days of yore—the days before Nikki Haley was muzzled by the State Department—when our favorite South Carolina peach made daily headlines with her barely literate, Facebook-rant diplomacy.

Of course, in accordance with official Trump policy, Haley is still allowed to preach from the Bible of Bomb Iran; so her status as a rogue psycho has been downgraded to "standard psycho".

The US House of Representatives has voted overwhelmingly to impose new sanctions against Iran. The lower chamber of Congress approved the bill on Tuesday. The move came days after the Donald Trump administration certified, for the second time, to Congress that Iran was in compliance of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers.

Press TV has interviewed Scott Rickard, a political analyst and former American intelligence linguist from Tampa, Florida, and Jim Walsh, a research associate with MIT Security Studies Program at Massachusetts Institute from Boston, for their thoughts about the imposition of new sanctions against Iran.

Rickard lashed out at US lawmakers, saying the financial backers of the congressmen are forcing them to approve anti-Iran bills.

The ongoing problems with the F-35 and other military programs, stemming from virtually unlimited budgets, underline the inefficiency of the American military-industrial complex (MIC). In contrast, Moscow develops armaments capable of counteracting the latest technological advances of the US at minimal cost.

One of a state’s most insidious mechanisms is the inefficiency of the military-industrial sector. When looking at the world's first superpower, this becomes all the more pronounced. Still, the ongoing problems highlighted by the F-35 program and failed missile interceptions by ABM systems are a good demonstration of how inefficiency in the US military sector has risen to worrying levels.

Webmaster's Commentary:

This culture of waste, and a complete lack of meritocracy, on such a massive scale, must be dealt with.

For far too long, the US military has put up with equipment which is delivered so late as to be obsolete; does not perform as advertised; and is riddled with massive cost overruns.

President Trump needs to change this; there need to be stringent checks in place to prevent this from continuing, including jailing executives of companies which fail to deliver working, cost-contained, and state-of-the-art weapons for our military.

As draconian as this sounds, it would definitely be a move which would change the culture of this industry forever in this country.

But of course, this will only change when pigs fly; the military industrial complex owns this government, covertly and overtly, and they know it.

This is why the next major war in which the US government and military is involved will most probably be a war it cannot win.

Yesterday, Republican lawmakers blocked a bipartisan proposal designed to allow Veterans Affairs doctors to recommend medical marijuana as a substitute to big pharma’s opioids where the drug is legal for veterans.

The House Committee stopped the “Veterans Equal Access” amendment from moving to debate on the House floor by keeping the measure out of the VA funding bill for next year...

Would the new bill that the Senate has quietly passed actually remove executive powers from the President and start a war with Russia?

Our US Congress is filled with criminals, liars, people with serious health problems that could impair their judgment, and lifers with all the signs of advancing dementia, and yet these people are making decisions that could mean the difference between life and death for the rest of us while completely circumventing the checks and balances put in place by the Constitution.

A bill called "Countering Iran's Destabilizing Activities Act of 2017" is, unsurprisingly, inaccurately named. (Aren't all of the most powerful bills? I mean, the Patriot Act was anything but patriotic.)

For Americans who oppose perpetual war, no member of Congress has been more admired than Barbara Lee. Ever since she cast the only vote against a blank-check war resolution, three days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Oakland Democrat has earned a reputation for bravely speaking antiwar truth to militarist power.

Venezuela is a step closer to civil war after July 20th‘s “fake referendum ” held by the government opposition. Corporate Fake News (i.e. mainstream corporate media) haled the fake referendum as a vote of “no confidence” for President Nicolas Maduro.

Iranian officials were deeply critical today of an incident in which US warships fired “warning shots” at a small Iranian patrol boat that was operating off the coast of Iran. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard called it a “provocation” by US forces.

One of the American ships that fired on the smaller Iranian boat
US Navy officials claimed the Iranian boat didn’t “follow the rules of the road,” and was a collision risk, though they conceded the boat was never less than 150 yards from any US warship in the first place.

This has been a recurring problem, with the US making a point of having a number of warships parked off the Iranian coast, and getting furious every time Iran’s own navy sends ships anywhere near them, even though the Iranian ships are usually in their own territorial water.

Webmaster's Commentary:

It appears that the US Navy has been given its marching orders; create a provocation, get the Iranians to react militarily, so that the US has its excuse to open fire against it.

It appears that in this incident, the Iranians were the model of restraint.

President Trump, searching for a reason to keep the United States in Afghanistan after 16 years of war, has latched on to a prospect that tantalized previous administrations: Afghanistan’s vast mineral wealth, which his advisers and Afghan officials have told him could be profitably extracted by Western companies.

Mr. Trump has discussed the country’s mineral deposits with President Ashraf Ghani, who promoted mining as an economic opportunity in one of their first conversations. Mr. Trump, who is deeply skeptical about sending more American troops to Afghanistan, has suggested that this could be one justification for the United States to stay engaged in the country.

Webmaster's Commentary:

Swell; just another damned (and possibly very specious) reason to stay in Afghanistan, because the Pentagon, State Department, Congress, and the White House, can't think of anything else to do here.

Before President Trump signs off on this, there should be an impartial mineral engineering study of those areas with supposed large mineral wealth, and a very sober, intelligent budget for doing this.

But the most important conversation to be conducted here, concerns a mechanism which insures that a reasonable portion of this wealth actually goes back to the Afghani people, rather than being simply expropriated by US companies, who have no moral right to do this, and may potentially give nothing back.

Thousands of Jordanians joined the funeral procession of a teenager shot dead by an Israeli security guard during a standoff at the Israeli embassy. The mourners have demanded authorities close the embassy and tear up Jordan’s peace treaty with Tel Aviv.

The people who joined the procession chanted, “No to an Israeli embassy or ambassador on Jordanian land” and “Death to Israel” as they accompanied the coffin of the killed teenager from his home city of the city of Wihdat, east of the Jordanian capital of Amman, where a large Palestinian refugee camp is situated.

The mourners were carrying pictures of the dead teenager, identified as Mohammed Jawawdeh, 17, as well as Palestinian and Jordanian flags. They also called for a “jihad” against Israel, Reuters reports.

"We will go to Jerusalem as martyrs by the millions,” people chanted, according to AFP. Jawawdeh’s uncle also appealed to Jordan’s King Abdullah II, asking him to avenge the teenager’s death.

Webmaster's Commentary:

"By accident", my astrolabe!!

But the big question now, is how how King Abdullah of Jordan and Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu, are going move forward to take steps to insure that such an incident never happens again, and compensate the family of this kid for their loss (as though money could ever compensate for the loss of a loved one).

Head of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde says the organization may move its headquarters from Washington DC to Beijing in a decade if the growth trend in China and other major emerging markets continues.

Changes in big emerging markets will be reflected in the IMF's voting structure, and the Fund will need to increase its representation in the region, according to Lagarde.

“Which might very well mean, that if we have this conversation in 10 years' time...we might not be sitting in Washington, DC We'll do it in our Beijing head office,” the Fund’s Managing Director said.

Lagarde highlighted that emerging economies are currently growing larger and more influential.

She added that the IMF's bylaws call for the institution's head office to be located in the largest member economy.

Webmaster's Commentary:

This is why so many in the Bowels of Power in DC are itching for a war with China (which we very well may not win), to prevent a financial overtake of the US.

Seeking to increase the chances of taking out North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the event of war, South Korea wants to boost its 500-mile range ballistic missile warhead from 1100 pounds to one ton.

By doubling the warhead size, Seoul asserts that it can mitigate the threat of nuclear attack by the People's Democratic Republic of Korea (DPRK), and strike underground bunkers where the Pyongyang brass will hide in the event of war, according to the Korea Times.

But to make the dream a reality, Seoul must first get the approval of Washington, as an existing treaty between the allies describing guidelines for the country's missiles prevents the kind of upgrades sought by the South Korean military.

Webmaster's Commentary:

looking at the rapid escalation of North Korea's missile program, I would suspect that permission on this will happen sooner than later, and that it may even happen before this upcoming Security Conference.

Reports have identified human error as the likely cause of a failed June 22 SM-3 Block IIA ship-launched Aegis missile test — a relief to military contractors and the Pentagon, who have been speeding the advance of US anti-missile technology.

As threats of intercontinental ballistic missile attacks by the People's Republic of North Korea (DPRK) continue unabated, the US, in cooperation with regional allies, is quickly developing new anti-missile defense technologies, including the ship-launched SM-3, a Raytheon Aerojet, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries weapons collaboration program between Tokyo and Washington currently fast-tracked by the Pentagon.

Once the United States ships weapons to Ukraine it will be impossible to prevent them from being used for offensive purposes as well, former CIA officer Phil Giraldi told Sputnik.

The US government is pushing ahead with plans to provide lethal weapons to Ukraine despite concerns in the Department of State that they could be used to escalate violence and increase the risk of conflict with Russia.
"On the ground, tank destroying missile systems would by their very nature be quite usable in an offensive, mobile fashion to neutralize any disadvantage in armor," Giraldi said.

Giraldi observed that the tactical impact of such an arms package had been seriously discussed in US military and government s circles.

Webmaster's Commentary:

The shipping of US weapons to Ukraine will almost inevitably lead to war with Russia.

And then, we have this little "gem" of a faux pas, courtesy of President Trump's ambassador to Ukraine in an interview yesterday:

Only 7sq/km of land has remained under the control of the Al-Nusra Front (Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at or the Levant Liberation Board) in the mountainous region at Lebanon-Syria Border, a military source said, adding that the Lebanese Hezbollah fighters are now on the verge of capturing the entire of Arsal heights.

The source confirmed that only three heights stretching over 7sq/km of area are under Al-Nusra Front's control in Arsal heights, adding the resistance forces will soon reach the regions of Wadi Hamid and al-Malahi after capturing the terrorist-held three heights.

Once, Hezbollah seizes control over the three heights, it will complete liberation of Arsal heights, the source said.

Webmaster's Commentary:

Maybe this is the reason for the sudden White House concern over Hezbollah; they are speeding up the end of the war in Syria!

Speaking today with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, President Trump praised ongoing efforts in Lebanon for the nation to “guard its borders” and prevent infiltration by ISIS and other militant groups, pledging unspecified amounts of US aid to help with that effort.

The Arab world’s richest country, Saudi Arabia, went to war against the Arab world’s poorest country in 2015. In this period, Yemen – with a population of 25 million – has been substantially destroyed. The United Nations has been tracking the scale of the atrocity. The numbers are bewildering. Close to 20,000 people have died in this war, at least half of them civilians. The numbers of those injured could not be tabulated as half of Yemen’s hospitals and medical centers do not work. This means there is no accurate measure of those who come in to be treated.

On July 21, President Putin held an almost 4 hour long session with students of all ages from "Sirius" in Sochi. The Center is a multi-disciplinary educational facility for gifted children, offering everything from sports to music, maths, physics and even chess. It was opened in 2014, and was Putin’s own creation. In this outtake, President Putin talks about the importance of being able to keep your cool in stressful situations, which in turn is an advantage in dealing with people who cannot. “When a person has no better argument – they become aggressive.” Hillary, take note!

Possible supplies of Russian-made T-90 tanks to Iraq were discussed at today’s talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and visiting Iraqi Vice President Nuri al-Maliki, chief of Russia’s Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation Dmitry Shugayev said on Tuesday.

"This topic was raised, as was the entire current agenda," he told journalists but refused to say whether the meeting has yielded any concrete decision on that matter.

"We have an intergovernmental commission which works under its own plan. I would not comment on any details [concerning tanks supplies], on any nuances about the quantity, etc.," he said.

Webmaster's Commentary:

The performance of Russian military equipment in Syria has been stellar, and people are noticing.

So now, ironically, the US government's regime change in Baghdad is bringing Russia and Iraq closer, both in terms of relationships, and military hardware?!?

Transgender people will not be allowed to serve in the American military in any capacity, President Donald Trump said, adding that US forces shouldn’t be “burdened by” medical costs and “disruption” they would bring.

"After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow ... Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military," Trump wrote on Twitter.

In a fawning editorial Saturday (7/22/17), pillar of the national security establishment Washington Post fell over itself to commend a John McCain that never existed, instead lavishing praise on a well-curated PR facsimile developed over decades.

After praising McCain for issuing a “toughly worded criticism” on Twitter of Donald Trump for allegedly ending an entirely pointless, destructive and likely illegal CIA program supporting unnamed “rebels” in Syria (the highest act of moral courage for the Post is gunrunning to CIA proxies), the Fred Hiatt–run editorial board proceeds to paint McCain as the antidote to the problem of “partisan warfare, where politicians will say just about anything at all, true or untrue, to gain an advantage.”

Despite Chinese officials reassurance that "military means shouldn’t be an option," WSJ reports that China has been bolstering defenses along its 880-mile frontier with North Korea and realigning forces in surrounding regions to prepare for a potential crisis across their border, including the possibility of a U.S. military strike.

While all eyes in America are once again distracted by "Russia"-related narratives and the dismal GOP efforts to replace, repeal, re-who-knows-what Obamacare, the threat of North Korea has not gone away... and neither has China's preparations. As President Trump stepped up the rhetoric, pressuring China to do more to 'solve' the North Korean problem, and threatening military action to halt Kim's nuclear weapons program ambitions, it is clear that China has used this crisis to not just prepare for potential problems with North Korea but to reinforce military forces elsewhere.

Webmaster's Commentary:

I have to wonder what President Trump's and DC's reaction is going to be to the next North Korean ICBM launch; I frankly don't think their collective reaction will be "Sit down, let's talk".

I am very concerned that their response will ultimately be military; look for some major battle carriers to be heading toward the North Korean peninsula in the not too distant future.

A statistically significant poll of the American adult Internet population reveals that 52.4% believe the US government would mislead them "about a foreign government’s use of chemical weapons in order to justify US military action." 45.7% responded that they did not believe the US government would mislead them, while the remainder (1.9%) provided other responses.

Webmaster's Commentary:

I am utterly flabbergasted that the number was that low, looking at the continuous flurry of lies fed to the American people on a daily basis, then dutifully regurgitated by the presstitute media!!

KIM Jong-un is preparing to launch a second intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test, a US defence official has said. Here is the latest news and live updates.

North Korea is preparing to launch an ICBM within the next few days, a US defence official has said.

China has deployed troops to patrol its border with North Korea amid concerns about an influx of refugees.

US military officials have warned that war remains a possibility.
6.20 pm: North Korea warns Donald Trump of 'powerful nuclear hammer'

Pyongyang is ram pig up its threats in a bid to dissuade the US from attempting to remove Kim Jong-un from power.

A foreign ministry spokesman, quoted in the state-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), said: “Should the US dare to show even the slightest sign of attempt to remove our supreme leadership, we will strike a merciless blow at the heart of the US with our powerful nuclear hammer, honed and hardened over time.”

Webmaster's Commentary:

The ONLY thing which will work here will be getting all parties to the negotiating table (China, the US, North, South Koreas, and Japan) and to hammer out a peace deal, supplanting the existing armistice, which guarantees North Korea the right to unrestricted, unsanctioned trade, in exchange for North Korea ending its nuclear weapons program.

Of course, THAT... would be logical.

And we already had that statement a couple of days ago from General Dunford, attempting to "groom" the American people for a potential war against North Korea:

Unfortunately, just because something would be the most pig-headedly, ham-fistedly stupid thing for the American government and military could do, is utterly no guarantee that they won't do it.

I would hope that President Trump's response, should there be another North Korean missile test soon, will be measured; my gut is telling me, however, that the warmongers among his closest advisors will not let that happen.

The forecast for Yemen’s cholera epidemic looks grim, as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warns that by the end of 2017 the number of cholera cases will double, reaching 600,000.

President of ICRC Peter Maurer called the massive outbreak "alarming and growing" on Sunday while on a five-day visit to the country. Zee News quoted him saying, "The great tragedy is that this cholera outbreak is a preventable man-made humanitarian catastrophe."

He explained that devastation of Yemen’s health system and infrastructure by the ongoing civil war is directly responsible for the health crisis. Maurer said, "I find this needless suffering absolutely infuriating. The world is sleep-walking into yet more tragedy."

Webmaster's Commentary:

ICRC President Maurer, there is a correction to your perception of how this epidemic got started that you need to understand; it has been the indiscriminate Saudi bombing, enabled by the US military, which has destroyed Yemeni infrastructure; Yemeni ports have been blocked, courtesy of US military-enabled Saudi troops, so no food can get in, leading to malnutrition; and sir, there is, of course, the question of has this cholera epidemic been weaponised, courtesy of a joint Saudi-US scientific collaboration?!?

It gives me no joy, whatsoever, to be a citizen of a country whose government colludes in Saudi Arabian war crimes in Yemen, and yet to be utterly powerless to do anything about it, except to bear Christian witness, and expose, as best I can, what is going on here.

How India border stand-off gives China a chance to burnish its global image

Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said later in the day that Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval would be among the guests hosted by Beijing during a security officials meeting of the BRICS countries on Thursday and Friday, also involving Brazil, Russia and South Africa.

State Councillor Yang Jiechi, who along with Doval is the special representative on the border issues, will also attend.

Lu refused to confirm whether the border issue would be discussed at the meeting.

“China hopes to maintain the peace and stability of the China-India border area, but certainly will not make any compromise on issues of territorial sovereignty,” Reuters cited Lu as saying.

Xi Jinping picks war games over military parade for Chinese army’s 90th birthday bash

Webmaster's Commentary:

I am sincerely hoping that a hot war will not develop between these two nuclear-armed countries, and that cooler heads will prevail, and some negotiated settlement can occur; but passions on both sides of the issue are running very high, and all it will take is one stupid mistake, or stupid miscalculation, to get a war going here.

according to the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Defense — many billions, and sometimes even trillions, of dollars, in the Department’s periodic financial reports, are not documented. What has happened to the taxpayers’ money is unknown — it’s missing (alleged to have been spent, but to payees unidentified).

Here’s a prediction by yours truly that you can take to the bank: In just a few years Iran will have intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, that can attack targets all over the Middle East, Europe and the United States.

And it might all be thanks to the rogue state the Trump administration has labelled the biggest national security threat of our time: North Korea.

Oh, and to twist the knife in a little deeper, those missiles could be armed with nuclear weapons—once the Iran deal expires. That is, unless America puts a stop to this threat once and for all.

Webmaster's Commentary:

Well, if you really feel that way about it ... here's your rifle, and here's your parachute. Watch your head climbing into the transport and we'll call North Korea and Iran and tell them you are on your way to kick their butts all by yourself.

But we the people remember all the times the corporate media has lied us into wars.

We remember how Saddam didn't really have Nuclear weapons.

We remember that Iran wasn't actually building nuclear weapons.

We remember that Iran has not initiated a war of conquest in over 200 years while the US cannot seem to go for 6 months without bombing, invading, drone-striking, or regime-changing other nations that have done nothing to deserve such treatment.

We remember that there were no torpedoes in the Gulf of Tonkin, or a Spanish mine in Havana Harbor.

We remember that the Lusitania was in fact smuggling weapons to Great Britain in violation of the United States claim of neutrality, thus making her a legitimate target of war.

We remember that Roosevelt goaded the Japanese into the attack on Pearl Harbor.

We also remember that for all the talk about Iraq's nuclear weapons, and Iran's nuclear weapons, and North Korea's nuclear weapons, and Disneyland's nuclear weapons, that in all of human history one and only one nation has actually used nuclear weapons of mass destruction against the civilians of another country, and the nation that committed that atrocity is the United States.

Reports of Halliburton’s excessive billings have multiplied since the invasion of Iraq. Former Halliburton employees have described how the company charged $45 for cases of soda and $100 to clean 15-pound bags of laundry. U.S. government auditors have also issued dozens of reports finding questionable billings, including unreasonable fuel prices and charges for meals that were never served to the troops.

A Senate committee proposal for the 2018 military budget would further boost Pentagon spending on troops and equipment, make the US presence in Eastern Europe a persistent feature, and supply lethal weapons to Ukraine, among other things.

Adopted in the Senate Armed Services Committee by a vote of 27-0, the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would add $97 billion to the total military budget proposed by President Donald Trump last month.

The Iraqi and U.S. governments have declared Mosul as liberated from its ISIS occupiers. But author Vijay Prashad says it’s not so simple: the “liberation” included the slaughter of civilians by both sides and left large swaths of the ancient city — the second largest in Iraq — in rubble and ruins. And ISIS is still entrenched in other parts of the war torn country.

A British missile destroyer and a Turkish frigate have docked at the port of Odessa in Ukraine for a joint NATO maritime exercise, which comes just a week after the bloc’s massive Sea Breeze war games took place off the same shore.
The Royal Navy’s ‘HMS Duncan’ and the Turkish Navy frigate ‘Yildirim’ moored in the Black Sea port of Odessa on Monday, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry wrote on its website. Both ships, which belong to NATO Standing Maritime Group 2 (NSMG2) covering the Mediterranean, are expected to remain in Ukrainian waters until July 27.

“The program of the ships’ visit includes a joint exercise with the Ukrainian Navy to train mid-sea survival skills as well as surveillance operations,” the press release said.

Webmaster's Commentary:

These nearly round the clock, NATO exercises in Europe and beyond, seem to indicate to me that something wicked this way comes, in terms of a potential military attack against Russia.

Unfortunately, just because something would be the most ham-fistedly, pig-headedly thing for NATO and the US government to do, is no guarantee that they will not do it.

The demonisation of Russia continues, absolutely fact-free of any genuine Russian threat against the US or NATO.

Sweden is preparing to hold what it calls the “first and largest” exercise of its kind in over 20 years involving all of its military branches as well as troops from several NATO countries, to boost its deterrence capabilities, the Swedish military said.
The exercise, Aurora 17, which is scheduled for September, is designed to strengthen Sweden’s defense capabilities and create a “credible and visible” deterrent that would force any potential enemies “to carefully consider the risks of attacking our country,” the Swedish Armed Forces said in statement.

Some 19,000 soldiers from all military branches are expected to participate in the exercise, which will be conducted in the air, on land and at sea. The major training areas will be in the southeastern Stockholm-Maelaren region and the Gothenburg area, as well as on and around the island of Gotland, not far from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

Webmaster's Commentary:

This is completely senseless, unabashed propaganda; why in the name of heaven would Russia want to invade Sweden, when all Russia wants right now is trade and peace?!?

The families of suffering and dying Iraqi veterans, who breathed in toxic fumes because of the negligence of military contractors, received some horrible news this week. A federal judge in Maryland just dismissed a massive collection of cases brought against the contractor who claimed that the open burn pits in Iraq left them sick and dying from serious illnesses.

The legacy of death and misery from the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan continues today, and, once again, Dick Cheney plays a central role. The company at the center of the myriad of lawsuits is the infamous government contractor, Kellog, Brown, and Root (KBR).

At the beginning of the year The Intercept published a lengthy article straightforwardly titled “The Crimes of the SEAL Team 6.” The article tells little about the heroism or professionalism of the servicemen of the American special forces unit SEAL Team 6, which Hollywood and bestselling authors are so fond of. The Intercept took the courage to investigate the darker side of war – crimes that are being routinely committed by US servicemen. The investigation into SEAL Team 6 was conducted for two years and included 18 interviews with former and current soldiers and officers of the unit. The Intercept article is somewhat reminiscent of The New York Times piece on the same topic published back in 2015.

Webmaster's Commentary:

IF, in fact these charges are true, this is appalling.

And yet, 16 years on, the Taliban is still gaining territory in Afghanistan, as I posted earlier today.

A gigantic mine engages in every conceivable destructive practice—strip mining, heap leaching, tailings dams and ponds and so on. It pays such low wages its workers only make ends meet by borrowing from the company at usurious rates. The mine has befouled the air and poisoned the water. Many workers are chronically sick and their children are afflicted with birth defects. The mine’s absentee owners know that the mine is played out and the tailings dam is structurally unsound. They close the mine, count their profits, and move on. A month later the dam gives way. A deluge of noxious sludge inundates the town below the dam, sparing no one and rendering the area uninhabitable.

The government is a strip mining operation, plundering the dwindling residual value of a once wealthy America. Forget ostensible justifications, policy is crafted to allow those who control the government to maximize their take and put the costs on their victims, leaving devastation in their wake.

Gen. Joe Dunford, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, complained over the weekend that a lot of people are rejecting the idea of the US attacking North Korea, saying the possibility shouldn’t be taken off the table, and that attacking them is “not unimaginable.”

While Dunford conceded that a US attack on North Korea would lead to a “horrific” war, with a death toll unlike anything seen since World War 2, he insisted that the US had to develop a “military option” for the war because otherwise North Korea might nuke Denver, Colorado.

The choice of Denver, Colorado in the comments is a strange one, but likely reflects Dunford’s comments being made in Aspen, Colorado. At the same time, virtually everyone agrees North Korea lacks the capability to hit the US mainland, let alone do so with a nuclear weapon.

Webmaster's Commentary:

Translation: through this statement by General Dunford, the American people are being "groomed" for a US military attack against North Korea, and my sense is, sooner rather than later.

The weekend once again saw the Taliban racking up territorial gains within Afghanistan, seizing the Taywara District in the Ghor Province, and also taking control of the Kohistan District in the far northern Faryab Province, forcing security forces in both districts to retreat and wait for reinforcements.

Taywara is the bigger fight, according to reports, with around 70 Afghan soldiers killed and 30 others wounded in the fighting. In Faryab, the attack was more of a surprise, with Taliban arriving under the cover of night and burning the police headquarters and other office buildings.

This is likely to be a recurring problem for the Afghan military, as the force is nowhere near as large as it is on paper. Many of the Afghan soldiers officials on the payroll are actually “ghost soldiers,” just names that are on the books so some higher ranking official can pocket their salary without any real soldier to complain that he didn’t get paid.

Webmaster's Commentary:

My, how "brilliantly" the US/NATO occupation of Afghanistan is going; the Taliban are gaining more of a foothold in the country, 16 years on, and the US/NATO Coalition is painfully impotent to stop this.

IF the US and NATO leadership had two brain cells to rub together, they would have to admit, after all the blood and money spent here, that there is utterly no military metric by which this insane war can be characterized as "having been won."

What they should do is to remove all Western troops as soon as safely possible, then negotiate with whatever government is left standing in Kabul for the Afghani pipeline and mineral rights; of course, that would be logical, but the collective governmental and military hubris of both sides of the Coalition won't let it happen.

The US-led coalition in Syria believes they have a “lot more” to do in their war against ISIS in the country, even if they manage to expel ISIS from their capital city of Raqqa, with the deputy commander saying they’ll go after the rest of ISIS territory, backing the Kurds.

ISIS still holds a substantial amount of territory outside of Raqqa, including the majority of the Deir Ezzor Province. US officials have previously even singled out Mayadin as the “next capital” for ISIS, which they’ll invade next.

In Iraq, the US has styled their military presence as basically a permanent reality now, irrespective of ISIS’ status, but in Syria, where the US-led coalition isn’t authorized to be in the first place, justifying their long-term presence is going to be trickier.

Webmaster's Commentary:

Let's see here: another US invasion of a sovereign Middle Eastern country, completely unauthorized by Congress, where Russia has been invited at the behest of the Syrian government, to deal with the jihadists, but the US military has not; what could possibly go wrong?!?

Underscoring that Friday’s ceasefire was a de facto military victory for them, al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front now totally controls the Idlib Province’s capital city of Idlib, following the other ceasefire party, Ahrar al-Sham withdrawing over the weekend.

The two sides had spent over a week fighting around the province, ending with Nusra having a large contingent of Ahrar al-Sham surrounded at the border crossing into Turkey. This was followed by a ceasefire that aimed to remove all combatants from the crossing itself.

Still, it was no real secret that the deal came simply to prevent a bloodbath, and Ahrar al-Sham fairly quickly had packed everyone up on their vehicles and headed further south, into territory in Idlib Province that they still control.

Webmaster's Commentary:

Looks like the Syrian Army and Russia have their work cut out for them in Idlib.

The Saudi-led coalition tend to order anywhere from 20 to 70 airstrikes against various Yemeni provinces on any given day. Any province under control of Yemen’s Popular Forces is fair game. Hot spots currently include Taiz, Marib, the vital Hodeidah port town, and the densely populated capital city of Sana’a. So in retaliation, Yemeni forces have struck a Saudi oil refinery.

Just yesterday, Saudi airstrikes attacked a fishing boat killing 8 workers on board and wounding at least one more. Other targets frequently include civilian homes, crowded markets, funerals, schools, and all other civilian infrastructure. Despite this terrorism, arms from the west– especially the United States and United Kingdom– continue flowing.

Webmaster's Commentary:

That the US government chooses to partner with Saudi Arabia in its war crimes against Yemen is very troubling to me. I wish Mike and I were a lot younger and a lot less broke; then, maybe, we could apply for citizenship in a country which, on moral grounds, would never commit such crimes.

Here's the reality of what is going on in Yemen: the Saudis have been killing and maiming innocent civilians; with US military assistance, they have blocked Yemeni ports so no food can get in, leading to massive deaths by malnutrition; and then, of course, is the horrific outbreak of cholera in Yemen (possibly weaponised), which has seen a toll of over 300,000 people sickened by it.

It appears that our US government has morphed into something far more sinister than the Unhinged Surveilled States of America; it has morphed into the Unhinged, Surveilled States of War Crimes, where profits for the American merchants of death, is all that matters to this government.

Ultimately, there will be costs, financially, physically, and morally, to this country, and its leadership, and those costs may well be devastating.

Please understand that everyone who does not, peacefully, logically, and morally speak out against these practices, on the part of this country, are also complicit in these crimes.

Now is hardly the time to be complacent, or think, for a moment, that they will ultimately not affect you, because, down the road, they will.

A preliminary investigation into the collision of the USS Fitzgerald and a Philippine cargo ship in June has revealed that the U.S. Navy is at fault.

According to two defense officials who spoke with CNN, the crew aboard the USS Fitzgerald made numerous abysmal mistakes which led to the collision with the ACX Crystal in an area known for commercial shipping.

The investigation is likely to result in recommendations for possible punishment, making the review “dual purpose.”

“They did nothing until the last second,” one official said, speaking of the crew on the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. “A slew of things went wrong.”

The second official stated that the crash “will wind up being our fault.”

Much of the American public no longer cares about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. They also don’t care about the Senate investigation, or the House investigation.

So it’s unsurprising that CNN, in a seemingly blatant example of suburban scaremongering, will attempt to revive the anti-Russia hysteria that permeated the political climate just a few months ago, by preparing to debut “The Spies Next Door: Operation Ghost Stories." The documentary focuses on the story of undercover Russian sleeper living in the US. The show details “one of the largest counterintelligence investigations in the history of the FBI," reads a release from the network via the Hill.

Webmaster's Commentary:

CNN, a word, please: you are dealing with a VERY war-weary, war-skeptical pubic at this point. And having lost any shred of credibility for continually having regurgitated the White House lie that "Saddam Hussain had weapons of mass destruction", on which to "sell" the American people on a war against Iraq, I am rather surprised that you would continue to pour more kerosene upon the corpse of the tatters of your integrity.

A war against Russia would be financially and militarily insane right now; the US military just doesn't have the troop strength, the weaponry, the money, or the manufacturing to insure a positive US outcome to a war against Russia.

Unfortunately, that being said, just because something is the most ham-fistedly, pig-headedly stupid thing the US government could do, is utterly no guarantee that it just won't haul off and do it.

We've got NATO and American troops surrounding Russia, and a new US military base in the Republic of Georgia, right on Russia's border, and that facility will be ready for use, and occupancy, right around the end of this year.

Therefore, my guess for the timing of a "false flag", to be blamed on Russia as the "justification" for military action against it, will be toward the end of this year, or beginning of next.

But in response to your coming demonisation of Russia, as a potential prelude to a shooting war with this country, a composer I know very well once wrote:

"You're selling us war... but we're just not buying
You've got your talking heads all cued, but we know they're lying
Just how many more ... will you condemn to dying?!?
You can't justify this war, so just stop trying!"

Oh, and I will be recording the first episode of the show... to know which commercial sponsors against whom I will need to organise a national boycott!! :-)

The Russian military’s state-of-the-art Sukhoi Su-35 Flanker-E multi-role fighters aren’t just turning heads and dropping jaws over the wastelands of Syria anymore. During a flight demonstration ahead of Russia’s annual Moscow Air Show, one of the country’s finest fighter jets pulls off a series of amazing aerobatic maneuvers that might make even the most experienced throttle jockey’s guts turn.

Wikileaks’ Julian Assange is continuing his attempt to “take down America any way he can” by accurately reporting the truth.

Saturday on Twitter, Assange highlighted an article from Thursday where the Financial Times noted how many Syrian rebels are getting salaries from the CIA.

Assange said they “buried the lede”

Webmaster's Commentary:

Why am I absolutely not surprised at this?~?

And CIA Director Pompeo, a word, please: you have simply found yourself tripping over your own lies, both to the American people and the world, regarding the US's true mission in Syria.

Originally, the American military presence in Syria was allegedly to "fight ISIS"; but what was really going on, as clearly demonstrated by the Financial Times article, which you hate, because the truth is gradually coming out, was to finance, train, and help the rebels destabilise Syria to the point where regime change in Syria was in the sites of DC.

In light of Russia's support for the Al Assad Administration, (and I would like to politely remind you, Mr. Pompeo, that the Russians are in Syria at the behest of the Syrian government, which we never were), that was just not going to happen.

The American people are now war-weary, and war-skeptical. They understand that the lies emanating from DC, and regurgitated by the presstitutes in Corporate Media, are simply put forward to sell various geopolitical agendas, and can no longer be believed.

Julian Assange has never lied to me; the US government, on innumerable occasions, has, sir: so, who do you think I am going to trust, henceforward?!?

Wikileaks’ Julian Assange is continuing his attempt to “take down America any way he can” by accurately reporting the truth.

Saturday on Twitter, Assange highlighted an article from Thursday where the Financial Times noted how many Syrian rebels are getting salaries from the CIA.

Assange said they “buried the lead”

Webmaster's Commentary:

Why am I not surprised at this?!?

And a short word to CIA Director Pompeo: you get angry when you get embarrassed by someone like Assange succeeds in uncovering the evils this government sometimes perpetrates in order to effect "regime change", as you have been doing for over half a decade in Syria.

The American people cannot possibly believe or stomach your lies anymore, particularly after the "Saddam had weapons of mass destruction" lie to "sell" American into a war with Iraq; they have become war-skeptical, and war weary.

When faced with choosing between what the US government tells me, and what Julian Assange tells me and the world, I will, thank you, stick with Assange; he hasn't lied to me yet, whereas the only thing I expect from my government these days, is continual lying to support its geopolitical agendas.

In retaliation for the Saudi’s ongoing aggression against Yemen, Yemeni forces have targeted an Aramco Saudi oil refinery in Yanbu province with a long-range ballistic missile. The Saudi-led coalition tend to order anywhere from 20 to 70 airstrikes against various Yemeni provinces on any given day. Any province under control of Yemen’s Popular Forces is fair game. Hot spots currently include Taiz, Marib, the vital Hodeidah port town, and the densely populated capital city of Sana’a. So in retaliation, Yemeni forces have struck a Saudi oil refinery.

US forces have a less credible military foothold in Syria than the Russians do, and could be expelled from the country after the defeat of ISIS, a top US general has said.

Russia, unlike the US, operates in Syria at the invitation of the Syrian government, said General Raymond 'Tony' Thomas, the head of the Special Operations Command, at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado on Friday.
'Here's the conundrum: We are operating in the sovereign country of Syria. The Russians, their stalwarts, their backstoppers have already uninvited the Turks from Syria. We're a bad day away from the Russians saying, "Why are you still in Syria, US?" Thomas said, according to Newsweek.

'If the Russians play that card, we could want to stay and have no ability to do it,' Thomas continued.

Webmaster's Commentary:

Since President Trump has ordered the CIA to stand down in their funding, training, and supporting ISIS, there is utterly no credible claim by the US government for a reason for the US military to be in Syria, period, end of discussion.

We have invaded a sovereign country with the original expectation of being able to regime change Damascus; that is not possible, and perhaps, it never was. But the reality on the ground is very clear here; time to go.

PLANS to scrap Army regimental headquarters, which currently provide vital support in soldier welfare and recruiting, have caused outrage.

Championed by head of the Army General Nick Carter as part of a cost-cutting drive, the move would cut 200 jobs and let the Army sell real estate.

Last night, as sources suggested the end-game may see one super HQ in Andover, Hampshire, critics warned that the move to a “call centre” could jeopardise important welfare links for soldiers, and sever regional ties at a period when morale in the Army is already low.

The British press has been rather over-excited about the Tory government’s plans to fund a new fleet of destroyers.

So over-excited that pundits have overlooked the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Philip Jones’, extraordinary assertion that Britain’s plan to expand its Navy is:

“… in order to support the UK’s growing global economic ambitions.”
Oh, and he also mentioned that under the same plan, the Navy would be deploying an advanced laser weapon, along with autonomous, artificially intelligent weapons systems.

To his credit, Admiral Sir Jones does mention the obligatory objective of ‘world peace’ and such like, but he is also quite candid about the pre-eminence of Britain’s economic interests.

Here are the relevant passages of his message in bold:

“Meanwhile in the Gulf [we] are working to protect international shipping in a region which is essential to the UK’s economic security…

Webmaster's Commentary:

So, it's back to expropriating resources to which the UK has utterly no moral right; regime changing countries to become more British-Centric; and making certain that these resources are only sold in specific currencies to specific countries, right?!?

Former Marine intelligence officer and UN Chief Weapons Inspector for Iraq, Scott Ritter, joins the Ron Paul Liberty Report today to shed light on the phony “17 intelligence agencies agree on Russian election hacking” story and to explain why in his vast intelligence and WMD experience why the UN “investigation” into the April “sarin gas” attack in Syria was deeply flawed and should not be believed. Also don’t miss Ritter’s fascinating explanation of the real purpose of the so-called “White Helmets” in Syria!

Like a bad cold you can’t shake, the neocons are back – and they are back with a vengeance. Long associated with the extremist wing of the GOP and tied with catastrophic policy failures, they have now found themselves being embraced by the Democrats and the liberal media. It would seem being anti-Russia attracts strange bedfellows.

When it comes to Cyprus, many people think of it as one of the most popular tourist areas of the Mediterranean due to its famous vacation spots. However, the truly unique characteristic of Cyprus is its strategic location in the Middle East. That is the reason why Britain kept the island under its rule from 1878 to 1960 and has maintained its presence on the island by way of its military bases since then. The fact that these bases are of indispensable importance for Britain is a reason that goes beyond simply enabling air operations in the Middle Eastern countries: Intelligence activities.

Nevertheless, for the astute observer of the ‘Great Game’ of politics, it is an unending source of wonderment to stumble across ever more astounding examples of the monstrous machinations of which wealthy and powerful elites are capable. Indeed, it is precisely here that authors Docherty and Macgregor enter the fray and threaten to take our breath away entirely.

Thus, the official, canonized history of the origins of the First World War, so they tell us, is one long, unmitigated lie from start to finish. Even more to the conspiratorial point is the authors’ thesis that – and to paraphrase a later Churchill who figures prominently in this earlier story – never were so many murdered, so needlessly, for the ambitions and profit of so few.

The British press has been rather over-excited about the Tory government’s plans to fund a new fleet of destroyers. So over-excited that pundits have overlooked the First See Lord, Admiral Sir Philip Jones’, extraordinary assertion that Britain’s plan to expand its Navy is: “… in order to support the UK’s growing global economic ambitions.”

The CIA recruited the Muslim Brotherhood to fight a proxy war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, which led to the withdrawal of the Soviets from the Hindu Kush. Since then, the CIA used the mercenaries to fight more proxy wars in the Balkans, Chechnya, and Azerbaijan. Due to the wars of aggression against Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemen the US and its vassal states created sectarian violence that led to civil wars. Right now, the CIA and the Muslim Brotherhood are present in the form of ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

The average person doesn’t realize how close the American empire is to collapsing under its own weight. Hell, the average person’s mind is thoroughly riddled with propaganda and entertainment, that they don’t even realize that their country is an empire. They think it’s normal to live under an all powerful government that has hundreds of military bases all over the world, and is constantly at war.

But there’s no doubt that this state of affairs cannot continue. In fact, even the high ranking officials in our government know that their empire is on the ropes, and challenged on all fronts by nations that are no longer willing to bow down to Washington.

Webmaster's Commentary:

I would like to politely remind the authors of this report that doing something in precisely the same way, again and again, yet expecting a different outcome, is a classic definition of insanity.

Two Salafi-jihadi factions in Syria's Idlib province have been engaged in a brutal inter-"rebel" (or rather inter-jihadist) war this week, prompting Turkey to prepare a potential invasion to protect its favored factions on the ground. On Thursday, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS/Al-Qaeda) continued to capture towns in Idlib's countryside from rival Ahrar al-Sham and Turkish backed FSA groups after an uneasy truce between the rebel factions quickly collapsed days prior, causing the weaker Ahrar al-Sham to call in Turkish support.

Webmaster's Commentary:

The tragedy which has been Syria the last half-decade, appears to show no signs of ending any time soon; hopefully, the Russians will hold sway here, and influence Turkey away from even the concept of this invasion.

Dennis Rodman will be disappointed to learn that the US is set to ban all citizens from traveling to North Korea, according to two agencies that operate tours there. Koryo Tours and Young Pioneer Tours said the ban would be announced on 27 July to come into effect 30 days later, the BBC reported. "After the 30-day grace period any US national that travels to North Korea will have their passport invalidated by their government." The ban comes one month after US student Otto Warmbier died following his imprisonment by the Kim regime.

Webmaster's Commentary:

When one has no relations with an allegedly "hostile" country (which the US does not with North Korea), this move looks like a prelude to military action against it.

Although South Korean President Moon's latest request to meet Kim Jung Un has been rebuffed, the South Korean government made it very clear that they don't think it was the North Korean government's position that talks could never happen, ultimately; just that a meeting for today would have been too rushed to be of positive benefit.

The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency is kicking off an educational campaign aimed at helping residents and visitors figure out what to do if the state is the target of a nuclear missile attack from North Korea.

The agency said the threat to the islands from the rogue nation is "currently assessed to be low."

But officials added ongoing North Korean missile tests —and growing public concern — have prompted officials to work on preparedness and disaster management plans.

Vern Miyagi, administrator of the emergency management agency, stressed that the public shouldn't be alarmed by the planning.

Rather, he said, the public should see the preparation and education much like the work being done to prepare the public for hurricane and tsunami, which pose a greater risk to the state.

"We need to tell the public what the state is doing," Miyagi said. “We do not want to cause any undue stress for the public; however, we have a responsibility to plan for all hazards."

Webmaster's Commentary:

IF the State of Hawaii handles a potential missile attack as "well" as it has handled the absolute fluster-cluck of its light rail program, then citizens of the State of Hawaii are truly on their own.

Get educated as to how to prepare yourself for such an event as much as possible; this means long-term storage food and water; extra medications for yourselves and your pets. Have a bugout plan, if you are separated from the family, and understand, tactically, where it will be the safest for you to ride out the attack in relative comfort.

Understand what potassium iodate is, and how to find it before such an emergency may take place.

If you have kids in school, learn what the policy is regarding the school's releasing them before the actual end of class time.

Because you absolutely, completely cannot rely on the State of Hawaii to take care of you in any meaningful way; it is too dysfunctional to be even the least bit effective in the case of such an attack by North Korea (or, potentially China).

To put it very simply, after Syria the Caucasus – barely 800 miles to the northeast – is literally Russia’s second line of defense, its “soft underbelly,” to use a worn but apposite phrase. Quite understandably, Russia is in Syria, among other reasons, precisely to make sure that it would not have to fall back to the aforementioned defense line. Its geopolitical opponents, however, are doing their utmost to see to it that it does. Hence the intense turbulence and maneuvering between Baku and Tbilisi, and beyond.

Webmaster's Commentary:

A new US military base, right on Russia's border in Georgia?!? And ready for occupation and activity by the end of this year?!?

This gives me a sense of what a timeline might be for a NATO-led war with Russia; let's say, maybe 5 months out, give or take, from today?!?

The accompanying buildup of NATO'S troops right on Russia's doorstep is no accident, either.

Ray will be in Court Wednesday and Thursday in Syracuse to face the music. He and his Catholic Worker, Jewish mother, and other friends twice blocked the main entrance and exit to Hancock drone base to call attention to the push-of-the-computer-button cowardly killings done in our name. Those of you who, like our Quaker friends, are in the practice of holding Justice people in the Light, please do.

Here is a link to a piece Ray wrote a few years ago on the moral imperative of activism; even more necessary now.

Pasted in below are a couple of links. Ray is grateful to have fallen in with the very best people to be in trouble with, witnessing at Hancock Drone Base, Syracuse, New York

Webmaster's Commentary:

I met this man in New York when he was a featured speaker at a conference where Mike was also present to present evidence on 9/11; he is a gentleman of great moral courage, and someone I respect for his peaceful protests against things like the drone bases.

Extrajudicial assassinations have absolutely no place in American law, nor should they, although President Obama loved to order these.

What they appear to ultimately accomplish is create more radicalisation in the countries where they are used, which translates to a permanent state of warfare, which always makes the US's military industrial complex happy.

This is the most current commentary I could find on the Mc Govern trial, and it is dated just one week ago:

In an effort to compete with more technologically advanced forces, the US Army is investing in new programs to develop autonomous drones and create a network of battlefield devices that communicate with each other.

Kadyrov said, “America is not really a strong enough state for us to regard it as an enemy of Russia. We have a strong government and are a nuclear state. Even if our government was completely destroyed, our nuclear missiles would be automatically deployed. We will put the whole world on its knees and screw it from behind.” That comment certainly puts the left’s insistence on a war with Russia in perspective. And Kadyrov is probably being more accurate than not in that statement.

According to The New York Times, Russia built a system in the 1980s that could do what Kadyrov described, known as the Perimeter System. Bruce Blair, the former US nuclear officer who broke the story of the Perimeter System for The New York Times in 1993, told Business Insider that the system works when it detects nuclear explosions. Only a small crew, deep in a bunker, has a hand in the otherwise automated system, according to Blair.

In 2007, all 17 U.S. intelligence agencies declared with high confidence Iran had no nuclear weapons program. They stated this again in 2011. Under the nuclear deal, Iran exported almost all of its uranium, stopped enriching to 20 percent, shut down thousands of centrifuges, poured concrete into the core of its heavy water reactor, and allows U.N. inspectors to crawl all over every facility.

Is Iran, despite all this, operating a secret nuclear weapons program? Or is this War Party propaganda meant to drag us into another Mideast war?

To ascertain the truth, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee should call the heads of the CIA and DIA, and the Director of National Intelligence, to testify in open session.

We are told we are menaced also by a Shiite Crescent rising and stretching from Beirut to Damascus, Baghdad and Tehran.

And who created this Shiite Crescent?

Webmaster's Commentary:

Unfortunately, just because the creation of yet another war in the Middle East would be the most ham-fistedly, pig-headedly stupid thing the Unhinged Surveilled States of America could do right now, is absolutely no guarantee that it won't haul off, and do it.

Logic, rationality, and being able to think something through to its logical conclusion, are no longer requisite skills for those creating foreign policy in DC; what we seem to have happening here is a combination of "magical thinking, coupled with the used of a dart board, in the creation of US foreign policy.

Israel has made no secret of not liking the southern Syria ceasefire, negotiated between the US and Russia, complaining in particular that it doesn’t keep the Syrian government, and its Iranian allies, totally barred from that part of the country, which they see as tantamount to letting Iran be too close to the Israeli border.

Israeli Maj. Gen. Yaakov Amidror is the latest to step up the ever-growing series of threats against Iran over the matter, attending a briefing with foreign correspondents today and warning that if the US and Russia don’t resolve Israel’s complaints, the Israeli military will “intervene and destroy every attempt to build infrastructure in Syria.”

Webmaster's Commentary:

Israeli Maj. Gen. Yaakov Amidror, a word please; have you gone absolutely barking dog mad, to have made that statement?!?

First, are you really so smug and secure that you would go head to head, militarily, in a foreign country, up against the Russians, who will simply not allow this madness?!?

And did you NOT get the memo that China is going to have a significant role to play in the rebuilding of Syria's infrastructure?!?

Just three days after South Korea proposed holding inter-Korean military talks with its northern neighbor, Pyongyang’s most notable publication slammed the efforts as "nonsense."

According to the Rodong Sinmun, if Seoul wants to have any chance at keeping the peace, it needs to fully abandon its confrontational policies and say goodbye to its decades-long dependence on the United States.
"Ditching confrontation and hostility is a precondition for opening the door for the two Koreas’ reconciliation and unity," stated the Hermit Kingdom’s top newspaper.

Talks were proposed after recently elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced in Berlin that he wanted to hit the reset button and bring about a calmer relationship between the divided Koreas.

"We do not wish for the collapse of North Korea," Moon told reporters at the G20 Summit. "We will not pursue any form of unification by absorbing the other. We will not pursue a unification by force."

Webmaster's Commentary:

I seriously doubt that North Korea is going to change its stance, until it actually has a workable, steerable nuclear weapon as a deterrent against "regime change" against their country.

At that point (if the US government and military actually allow its program to continue toward a successful conclusion), it may be ready for talks, but most probably not until then.

The quest for global domination in the world’s oceans, as well as the global strike concept of the US and its allies, puts international stability at risk and poses a direct military threat to Russia, the country’s new naval doctrine states.
Moscow’s demonstration that it is prepared to use force, including non-strategic nuclear weaponry, is an efficient way to deter this threat, the document says.

One of the main challenges faced by Russia is the “strive of a number of states, mainly the US and its allies, for domination in the World Ocean, including the Arctic region, as well as for establishing overwhelming superiority of their naval forces,” according to “the state policy of the Russian Federation in the field of naval activities for the period up to 2030,” as ratified by a Decree of the President of Russia on Thursday.

Catherine Austin Fitts just published documentation of Department of Defense (DOD) official audit reports from 1998 that acknowledge “losing track” of $6.5 trillion, along with Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) admission of “losing” over $100 billion. This is euphemistically termed “unaccounted,” and literally means that DOD agrees they received these funds, agrees the funds are gone, and then claims to not have records of where the money went.

Webmaster's Commentary:

Absoflippinglutely unbelievable, but perfectly predictable from the American government.

Karl Marx famously said that history repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce. The only difference between the Afghan jihad back in the ‘80s that spawned Islamic jihadists like the Taliban and al Qaeda for the first time in history and the Libyan and Syrian civil wars, 2011-onward, is that the Afghan jihad was an overt jihad: back then, the Western political establishments and their mouthpiece, the mainstream media, used to openly brag that the CIA provides all those AK-47s, RPGs and stingers to the Afghan so-called “freedom fighters” to combat the Soviet troops in Afghanistan.

In an effort to compete with more technologically advanced forces, the US Army is investing in new programs to develop autonomous drones and create a network of battlefield devices that communicate with each other.

In March, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) released a report that found the US Army has fallen behind other technologically advanced states after spending nearly two decades fighting technologically inferior adversaries in the Middle East.

According to a new NBC News survey, some 76 percent of Americans are afraid of being drawn into a major war. That is a ten percent increase from just February. What’s behind this increased fear? The country that Americans feel most threatened by is North Korea, which has a GDP half the size of the US state of Vermont (which has the smallest GDP in the union). Who’s responsible for making Americans so afraid of relatively minor threats? The media? Neocons? Tune in to today’s Ron Paul Liberty Report:

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) mobilized thousands of ground vehicles and other military equipment as the standoff between Chinese and Indian troops near the disputed area of Sikkim continues, according to a report from the PLA Daily.
PLA Daily is widely considered the main outlet the Chinese army uses for external communications, LiveMint notes.

The report did not specify the exact date the military assets were relocated to Tibet but said it occurred at the end of June. The unspecified military "hardware" was transported via rail and conventional roads.

It’s not entirely clear where in Tibet the chess pieces have been placed. The report also failed to indicate whether the military equipment would be used in tandem with a Chinese battalion that recently completed drills in Tibet, China’s second-largest province.

According to Hoshyar Zebari, who until recently was a senior minister in Baghdad, many bodies “are still buried under the rubble.”

“Kurdish intelligence believes that over 40,000 civilians have been killed as a result of massive firepower used against them, especially by the federal police, air strikes and Isis itself,” Mr. Zebari added.

The monitoring group Airwars recently estimated that at least 4,000 civilians were still buried under the rubble in Mosul, but we will likely never know the exact number. Up until a month ago, the U.S. only had two personnel investigating casualties in Iraq and Syria full time.

Zebari also emphasized that the “unrelenting artillery bombardment by units of the Iraqi federal police, in practice a heavily armed military unit, had caused immense destruction and loss of life in west Mosul,” according to the Independent.

Webmaster's Commentary:

I have a sneaking suspicion that by the time all the deaths are truly tallied in Mosul, this 40,000 figure may well be expanded by double the number reported here.

The New York Times’ Tim Arango took what could have been an interesting topic for war journalism—Iran’s increased role in Iraq—and morphed it into a revisionist history of American and Saudi involvement in the Middle East. In doing so, Arango paints the U.S. as a noble, freedom-loving nation on a mission to improve the lives of average Iraqis, and Iran as a sinister imperial force working to expand its sphere of influence across the region.

"The use of the weapon of falsehood is more necessary in a country where military conscription is not the law of the land than in countries where the manhood of the nation is automatically drafted into the Army, Navy, or Air Service. The public can be worked up emotionally by sham ideals. A sort of collective hysteria spreads and rises until finally it gets the better of sober people and reputable newspapers".
(excerpt, pp2, PDF version)

The UK is investing in F-35 fighter jets, part of a massive £160 billion program to re-equip the British military. It comes in the midst of painful austerity when there is no money for anything else, says political analyst Dan Glazebrook.
The UK's plan to purchase F-35 fighter jets has MPs debating the increasing costs. They say the controversial £150 billion warplane program is falling on the taxpayers.

UK Defence Select Committee chair Julian Lewis said he would be pushing for a special investigation into the acquisition and demanded full disclosure of the hidden costs associated with the deal.

The Chinese Army moved tens of thousands of tonnes of military hardware into the remote mountainous Tibet region after the standoff with Indian troops in the Doklam area in the Sikkim sector+ , the mouthpiece of the PLA+ said today.

The vast haul was transported to a region south of the Kunlun Mountains in northern Tibet by the Western Theatre Command - which oversees the restive regions of Xinjiang and Tibet, and handles border issues with India, reported the PLA Daily, the official mouthpiece of Chinese military.

The leading lawmaking brass of the United States government is making a push to ensure that doctors employed with the Department of Veterans Affairs can finally write medical marijuana recommendations for those patients living in states with dispensary programs.

Earlier last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee put its seal of approval on an amendment that would—for the first time ever—make medical marijuana access for veterans a part of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill.

The rider, which was introduced by Senators Steve Daines of Montana and Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, would “prohibit the use of funds appropriated or other-wise made available under this Act to interfere with the ability of veterans to participate in medicinal marijuana programs approved by States or deny services to such veterans.”

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on Wednesday reported that an airstrike carried out by the U.S.-backed Saudi-led coalition in Yemen killed 20 civilians—including women and children—who were fleeing violence in their home province.

"The people of Yemen are being subjected to deprivation, disease, and death as the world watches."
—Stephen O'Brien, United Nations

"The incident was reported on Tuesday afternoon and the number of civilian casualties are still being verified with initial reports pointing to at least 20 deaths," the agency said in statement. "Most of those killed are believed to be from the same family. Injuries have also been reported with a number also taken to nearby hospitals for treatment."

Webmaster's Commentary:

These are all war crimes, which which, apparently, the US and Saudi civilian and military leadership are quite morally comfortable.

I am profoundly alarmed to be a citizen of a country colluding in Saudi Arabia's horrific war crimes in Yemen; if Mike and I had the opportunity to become citizens of a civilised country which just doesn't do this, I would be delighted.

During World War II, Japan’s imperialist military invaded Northeast China and afterward spread throughout Southeast Asia, then on to an ill-fated attack on Pearl Harbor. Japanese crimes were many during the war and included the coerced services of ianfu (comfort women) for Japanese troops, slave labor, and experimentation on living humans.

Nearly 40,000 domesticated American mink have been released into the wild by trespassers, and now a family-owned farm in Minnesota is scrambling to gather the small, semi-aquatic mammals. Authorities have deemed the incident “a disaster.”

Stearns County Sheriff Don Gudmundson of Eden Valley is calling it “domestic terrorism.”The FBI has joined the investigation and have concluded that an exterior fence was dismantled in three spots by more than one person at Lang Farm, according to the St. Cloud Times.

For decades the US military has been on the cutting edge of aerial warfare, especially when it comes to drones. Our military has thousands of UAVs which have become ubiquitous in every American war since 9/11. However, they’ve proven to be a mixed bag. They have certainly given our soldiers an edge on the battlefield, but they’ve also killed thousands of civilians, which in turn has motivated countless individuals to take up arms against us. Regardless, there’s no doubt that drones are here to stay, and will be a common sight on the battlefield well into the future.

Thomas, the Democratic opposition to Trump continues its mass effort to create a Watergate out of nothing. Some of them think they are right and that what they are saying is true. Some of them think that no matter what the truth is, their charges are helping their case and weakening Trump.

Ever since the United States began openly arming and working with Kurdish fanatics in Syria under the guise of “fighting ISIS,” Turkey has shown signs of irritation, concern, and outright anger towards America. This is because the Turks fear any support given to Kurds from outside forces will embolden them to renew their fight for a Kurdistan entity carved out of Turkish territory. Indeed, Turkey is also concerned that any arming of the YPG/PYD forces in Syria will necessarily act as a conduit for weapons making their way to the PKK in Turkey...

For more than a year now, the collective US ruling class, with Democratic Party and corporate media operatives in the vanguard, has frozen the national political discourse in a McCarthyite time warp. A random visit to a July 26, 2016, issue of the New York Times reveals the same obsession as that which consumes the newspaper today: “Following the Links from Russian Hackers to the US Election,” “Spy Agency Consensus Grows That Russia Hacked DNC.” A year later, the allegations persist, piled ever higher with innuendo and outright nonsense. However, proof of the predicate act -- that Russia, not Wikileaks, penetrated the DNC -- remains totally absent.

An American human rights lawyer and a professor at the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Law said US President Donald Trump is looking for a “pretext” to attack Syria, bringing Moscow and Washington ever closer to a final confrontation.

Satellite pictures presented to the German Bild may be a good basis for experts to draw conclusions about Washington's long-term strategy in the Middle East. Reports Focus.

The pictures show a huge military base that the United States has built in the northern part of Syria near the city of Kobani, and which is now used as the main logistics base of the US military in Syria.

The analysis shows that President Donald Trump wants to maintain a sphere of influence in the northern part of the country after the "Islamic state" is finally defeated. This could lead to even greater tensions, especially with Turkey, the editorial said.

Canada’s prime minister hands millions to Omar Khadr, whose victims may not be able to collect.

Omar Khadr pulled the pin from a grenade and tossed it at Sgt. First Class Christopher Speer, a U.S. Army Delta Force medic, on July 27, 2002. Those are the facts to which Mr. Khadr, a Canadian citizen, confessed when he pleaded guilty before a Guantanamo Bay war-crimes commission.

On Friday the House overwhelmingly approved a massive increase in military spending, passing a $696 billion National Defense Authorization bill for 2018. President Trump’s request already included a huge fifty or so billion dollar spending increase, but the Republican-led House found even that to be far too small. They added another $30 billion to the bill for good measure. Even President Trump, in his official statement, expressed some concern over spending in the House-passed bill.

Thomas, the Democratic opposition to Trump continues its mass effort to create a Watergate out of nothing. Some of them think they are right and that what they are saying is true. Some of them think that no matter what the truth is, their charges are helping their case and weakening Trump. Paul Begala’s comments, even allowing for context, are among the most extreme I’ve heard:

NATO forces are able to deter Russia and they already do so by holding exercises in eastern Europe, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said as he visited the site of drills staged by NATO and several partner countries in Romania.

And it has some incredible goods to trade, like non-GMO agriculture, oil, and natural gas.

This constant Russia-bashing on the part of you, and your colleagues in Eastern Europe, is a completely unfair, and disingenuous branding of this country, perhaps as a prelude to a NATO war against it, and you have to know that.

The following map tells the story better than I could ever articulate it: